Transcript: 21 vs. 41: The Fitness Advice I Wish Someone Gave Me Twenty Years Ago
Full transcript for this episode of More Movement Please. For Donato’s structured summary, questions, quotes, and listening profile, go back to the episode page.
3 chapters — tap to expand the full text
Ashley introduces the episode's theme and reflects on being very active as a kid — dancing for 12 years, taekwondo, biking, roller skating — until a car accident at 16 disrupted her ability to move the way she used to.
This is stuff I wish I'd been told at 21 instead
of 41. What's up my movers and shakers? Famous
Ashley Grant here. Welcome to More Movement Please,
the podcast where I hope to inspire you to move
your body more. So today I kind of want to talk
about advice that I wish I'd been given at 21
instead of 41. And the funny thing is, as I'm
reflecting on this and considering some of the
advice I wish I'd been given, I can't help but
wonder if it would even have landed. back then.
All through grade school, I was pretty active.
I worked out a lot. I was a dancer for 12 years.
And then when the dancing came to an end, I was
in taekwondo. And I did a lot, a lot of movement.
I was walking, I was biking, I was roller skating.
I was, you know, very active as a kid. And even
after my car accident at 16, I still tried to
do some dancing. It didn't go very well. I kind
of, it was definitely one of those, if you don't
use it, you lose it. And after the car accident,
I kind of lost it. I lost how to move my body
the way that I used to. And those years of Taekwondo,
all the things, it basically just made it so
that I couldn't really pursue dance the way that
I had pursued it before. I've talked about that
Ashley describes how parking far from campus in college kept her walking and active, and reflects on wishing someone had told her not to stop those habits — taking stairs, parking further away, not eating crap — once she graduated and got married at 21.
before. In college, however, when I got to college,
I chose to do park and ride because it was significantly
cheaper to park further away from the campus
with a park and ride pass than it was to park
close to my classes. And it was actually a blessing
because I had to walk a lot. And so, you know,
all through high school, I had lots of stairs
that I had to take and then come to college.
And I had to walk a lot to get from the parking
lot to my classes. the park and ride parking
lot to my classes and there were stairs everywhere
there. And I tried to get really good about not
taking the elevator and all those things. I wish
that by the time I graduated, someone had said
to me, don't stop taking the stairs. Don't start
taking the elevator everywhere you go. Don't
start parking closer to the places that you need
to get to. Don't start eating crap. Like these
are things I wish that people had said to me.
And by the time I got married, I was still semi
-active, but I wasn't nearly as active as I wish
I had continued to be. Definitely gained the
freshman 15, definitely gained the wedding weight,
all the things. And I got married at 21. And
so some of the things that I really wish people
had said to me is, once you get married, Do something
to stay active every day. Once you get married,
don't just let yourself go. Make sure you keep
taking stairs and keep parking further away and
get a gym membership and pay attention to the
things that you're consuming and all those kinds
of things. I also wish someone had told me to
lift weights. Even though at the time I was like,
well, weightlifters, that's going to make me
too big and bulky. That's not actually true.
You can lift weights and just be toned. So I
guess those are the biggest things I wish someone
had told me. But again, I can't help but wonder
if it would have even landed. Because at the
time, though I was starting to gain a little
bit of weight, and we're talking 20 years now,
though I was starting to gain a little bit of
weight, it didn't really hit me how fast it was
packing on. And you don't gain it overnight,
Ashley reflects on slowly gaining weight over two decades without realizing how fast it was accumulating, and shares her biggest regrets: not lifting weights, and turning to shots, pills, and meal replacement products instead of just moving her body every day.
so you can't lose it overnight. That's another
thing I wish someone had told me. And I also
wish someone had told me, no matter what, even
if you start gaining weight, do not start taking
shots and pills. I really wish I had gotten that
advice. And if I did get that advice, I wish
I'd listened to it. So that's kind of advice
I want to give to others now. Don't take shots
and pills. Don't do meal replacement shakes,
meal replacement bars, and move your body every
day. Move your body every day and lift weights
because it's more important than you may realize
right now. And I'm living proof of if you don't
do it, you will regret it. And I definitely regret
that I didn't continue taking care of my body.
I'm very glad that I finally got my act together
and started moving. But I regret that I had basically
two decades of non -movement. So I want you to
move your body more. Please take this advice,
even if you think it's silly. You'll be glad
you did. Onwards and upwards, my friends. Have
you worked out today?